Sweathouse, Killooman, Co. Leitrim
Co. Leitrim |
Utility Structures
On the Ordnance Survey's 25-inch map, this small stone structure in County Leitrim is labelled a well.
It is not a well. It is a sweathouse, one of a cluster of such structures in the area, and the misidentification says something about how thoroughly this once-familiar building type had passed out of living memory by the time Victorian surveyors came through.
Sweathouses were Ireland's answer to the sauna, used primarily for relieving rheumatism and joint pain. A fire was lit inside the stone chamber, allowed to heat the walls thoroughly, then raked out; the patient crawled in, the low entrance was blocked, and the intense dry heat did its work. This example, recorded as part of the Leitrim Sweathouse Project by co-ordinator Aidan Harte in October 2021, sits in rough pasture on a steep south-east-facing slope, tucked just south of a small stream and roughly 44 metres from a recently abandoned farmhouse. It is a compact drystone structure, rectangular in plan and just over 1.6 metres tall, with a corbelled roof, a technique in which stones are laid in overlapping courses, each projecting slightly inward, until the gap closes without the need for mortar or timber. The entrance, facing south-east, is low and narrow, measuring around 42 centimetres wide and 62 centimetres high, which would have required anyone entering to crouch or crawl. A second sweathouse of the same type stands approximately 650 metres to the south-east, suggesting this part of Leitrim once had a concentration of these structures serving nearby communities.
The site is not signposted, and the terrain is rough pasture rather than managed ground, so finding it requires a degree of deliberate navigation rather than a casual stroll. The entrance faces south-east, which means approaching from that direction gives the clearest view of the opening and the corbelled stonework above it.